House Deputy Whip Knocks Government Subsidies but Praises This Agency

Melissa Quinn / August 06, 2014

Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., offered support for the Export-Import Bank in a recent interview even as he criticized the government for providing taxpayer-backed subsidies to U.S. companies — the crux of the federal agency’s function.

Schock, sitting down with a Fox affiliate in his home state June 29, touted the benefits of the Export-Import Bank, which provides taxpayer-backed loans and loan guarantees to foreign countries and companies to buy U.S. products.

The new deputy majority whip, however, says in the interview that he doesn’t “like the idea of the government subsidizing transactions” — an Ex-Im Bank feature  decried by opponents.

Ex-Im’s charter expires Sept. 30, and the debate over reauthorizing the agency has advocates and critics crossing party lines.

Schock’s remarks place him in a Republican faction that, along with Democrats, uses the talking point that ending the 80-year-old agency would lead to “unilateral disarmament” because many other nations operate export credit agencies.

Many conservatives, led by House Financial Services Chairman Jeb Hensarling of Texas, find themselves aligned with “old guard” liberals such as consumer advocate Ralph Nader and Rep. Alan Grayson, D-Fla., who depict Ex-Im as an engine for corporate welfare and cronyism.

Schock begins addressing Ex-Im at the 3:30 mark.